Seed planter-failure detector

ABSTRACT

A detector system for a seed planting machine of the type typically pulled behind a motorized tractor, and having a plurality of rotatable shafts connected by shear pins to a main drive shaft, is provided to detect when one or more of the rotatable shafts stops rotating during the machine&#39;&#39;s operation. An indicator panel is provided with light bulbs wired in parallel to one side of the tractors battery. Each of the bulbs is connected to a contact arm held in a position adjacent to a rotatable shaft. A pin is provided in each rotatable shaft to contact the contact arm intermittently upon rotation of the shaft. The rotatable shafts are grounded to the frame of the seed planting machine and to the frame of the tractor. The other side of the battery also is grounded to the frame of the tractor. Thus as each rotating shaft causes the pin therein to make contact with the contact arm an electrical circuit is completed and the indicator bulb wired to that contact arm lights up. Thus, when the seed planting machine is in operation, failure of an indicator light to intermittently blink &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;on&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; and &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;off&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; indicates that one of the rotating shafts has stopped rotating because of breakage of the shear pin connection.

ted States Patent Primary Examiner-John W. Caldwell Assistant Examiner-Hen R. Swann, III AttorneyAlbert H. Oldharn et al.

El .1 1s] A59 Young 5] Nov. 28, 1972 [54] SEED PLANTER-FAILURE DETECTOR[57] [72] Inventor: Walter i Route P A detector system for a seedplanting machine of the Street, Creston, Ohio 44217 type typicallypulled behind a motorized tractor, and 22 Filed; Oct 4 197 having aplurality of rotatable shafts connected by shear pins to a main driveshaft, is provided to detect [211 Appl' 186045 when one or more of therotatable shafts stops rotating during the machines operation. Anindicator [52] US. Cl ..340/271, 200/28, 340/267 R panel is providedwith light bulbs wired in parallel to [51] Int. Cl. ..G08b 21/00 oneside of the tractors battery. Each of the bulbs is Field of 568"]! 271267 ZOO/28 connected to a contact arrn held in a position adjacent to arotatable shaft. A pin is provided in each rotata- [56] Rehrences Citedble shaft to contact the contact arm intermittently vUNITED STATESPATENTS i upon rotation of the shaft. The rotatable shafts are y ygrounded to the frame of the seed planting machine 3,185,118 5/ 1965Greene ..340/271 and, the frame of the tractorf The other id f h g 'abattery also is grounded to the frame of the tractor. aumga'r l Thus aseach rotating shaft causes the pin therein to 3,550,108 12/1970 Orlando..340/271 1 make Contact with the Contact am an electric 81 ch 2,761,1268/1956 Morsching ..340/27l cuit is completed and the indicator bulbwired to that contact arm lights up. Thus, when the seed plantingmachine is in operation, failure of an indicator light to intermittentlyblink on and off indicates that one of the rotating shafts has stoppedrotating because of breakage of the shear pin connection.

4 Clairm, 2 Drawing Figures PATENTEDnuv 2a 1912 FIG. I

2 mm. F

INV EN TOR G N U 0 Y- A R L. A W

ATTORNEYS .1 SEED PLANTER-FAILURE DETECTOR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONtractor or they. may be self propelled. As the planting shafts causesreciprocal movement of a lever arm planting mechanism which punches ahole into the soil into which seed is placed. Each of the rotatingshafts which drives a planting mechanism for one row of seeds isconnected to the main sprocket gear by means of a shear pin.- Shearingof the shear pin prevents breakage of the shaftorother vital parts ofthe machine in case the planting mechanism strikes a rock or other hardobject in the ground. A commonproblem with this type of machine. is thata farmer simultaneously planting several rows of seed may discover thatduring the planting operation. a shear pin was broken and one .row ofseed was not planted. There is presently no means available whereby thefarmer or machine operator can be alerted to the fact that a shear pinhas been broken,

other than by visually observing the rotation of the shafts during theplanting operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the primary object of the presentinvention to provide a detection system to immediately alert theoperator of a seed planting machine to the fact that because of shearpin breakage, one or more rows of seed are 'not being planted during theoperation of the planting machine. It is necessary that such a detectiondevice give warning to the operator who is sitting in a forwardlookingposition in a cab of a tractor pulling a planting machine or inthe cab of a self propelled planting machine. Such a detector systemmust be capable of withstanding the vibrations, dirt, dust, water, andother naturalelements accompanying the operation of a seed plantingmachine.

Another object of the present invention is to provide 1' a simple,rugged and highly reliable detection system that can withstand therigors of a seed planting operanon.

A further object of the invention is to provide a detection system thatis easily maintainable and repairable by the operator of seed plantingmachinery even during the time the machinery is in use in the field.

A further object of the invention is to provide a detection system whichis characterized by its simplicity of construction and economy ofconstruction and maintenance.

The above and other objects of the invention will become apparent uponconsideration of the following specification and the accompanyingdrawings wherein there is shown a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing of the electrical circuit showing the maincomponents of the system; and

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 22 of FIG. 1 showing indetail the rotatable shafts, shaft pin, contact arm, and a means ofattachment of the contact arm to the frame of the planting machine.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT One side of the tractor batteryor the battery that would be used in a motor driven-self propelled seedplanting machine, is wired to ground by attachment to the frame of thevehicle. The rotatable shafts of the seed planting machine are alsoindirectly connected to the frame of the tractor or self propelledvehicle. The other side of the battery leads to one side of a main offand on switch 21. This switch is manually operated and should be left inthe open position when the planting machine is not in use to preventdrainage of the battery if any of the indicator bulbs 11 are on. Theindicator bulbs 11 are wired in parallel and are connected to theotherside of the switch 21. Indicator bulbs 11 are mounted in a panel placedin the cab of the tractor or self propelledmachine in a conspicuousposition where they can be readily observed by the vehicle operator. Theintensity of the bulbs should be sufficient when lit to readily beapparent to the vehicle operator even in sun light or other brightoutdoor lighting conditions. Each of the bulbs is wired to. a contactarm 7 shown in detail in FIG. 2. As can be seen in FIG. 2, the contactarm 7 is placed in a position closely adjacent to the rotatable shaft 3.As the shaft 3 is rotated the shaft pin 5 intermittently contacts thecontact arm 7. The shaft pin 5 should be firmly attached to therotatable shaft 3 in such a manner that it makes electricalcontacttherewith. It should extend radially outwardly from the side of theshaft a distance of oneeighth to one-half inch. The shaft pin 5 shouldbe made of an electrically conductive material such as metal. It shouldbe of a wear resistant, non corrosive material. It preferably should bemade of brass or copper, although other metals could also be used.

The contact arm 7 must also be made of an electrically conductivematerial such as metal. It also should be made of a material that iswear resistant, and noncorrosive. Again brass or copper could preferablybe used for making contact arm 7 although other metals could be used.Contact arm 7 is mounted in cantilever fashion to a mounting bracket 19mounted on the frame of the seed planting machine. It is essential thatthere be no electrical continuity between the frame of the seed plantingmachine and contact arm 7. The mounting bracket 19 may be made of anysuitably strong material including metal. A flexible connector l3, madeof a non-conductive material, is used to connect the contact arm 7 withthe mounting bracket 19. The contact arm 7 is attached to one end of theflexible connector 13 by means of a bolt 15 and nut 16. The

, other end of the flexible connector 13 is attached to the made betweenthe shaft pin 5 and the contact arm 7. This allows contact of a uniformpressure to be made during the period of rotation of the rotatable shaft3 in which the shaft pin 5 contacts the contact arm 7. Rubber, fabricreinforced rubber, or any strong, flexible, non-conductive materialcould be used for making connector 13.

As each of the rotatable shafts rotates during operation of the plantingmachine, the shaft pin thereon makes intermittent contact with thecontact arm adjacent to the rotatable shaft. Each intermittent contactcompletes an electrical circuit causing an indicator bulb to light. Thusduring operation of the planting machine, the indicator bulbs each blinkon and off intermittantly. Failure of a bulb to blink on and offindicates failure of a rotatable shaft to turn.

While one complete embodiment of the invention has been disclosedherein, it will be appreciated that I modification of this particularembodiment of the invention may be resorted to without departing fromthe scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A detector system for a seed planting machine equipped with a meansfor being operated by a motorized tractor with a battery, a frame, aplurality of rotatable shafts driveably connected at one end by asprocket-shear pin connection to a main drive shaft and connected at theother end to seed planting means; said system comprising: i

a. a plurality of electrically conductive shaft pins, one of which isattached to the side of each of the rotatable shafts, makes electrical Icontact therewith and extends radially outwardly therefrom a distance ofone-eighth to one-half inch, and rotates around the axis of the shaftwhen the shaft is rotated;

. a plurality of cantilever support brackets mounted at one end to theframe of the planting machine;

c. a plurality of electrically conductive contact arms each of which issupported as a cantilever by attachment at one end to one of the supportbrackets by a flexible insulator, the free end of each contact armresting in a position adjacent to and within one-eighth to one-half inchof one of the rotatable shafts whereby rotation of the shaft causesintermittent contact to be made between the shaft pin and the contactarm, the flexible attachment of the contact arm allowing the contact armto ride up and over the shaft pin to make uniform intermittent contactas the shaft pin rotates about the axis of the rotatable shaft withoutdamage or excessive wear to the shaft pin or contact arm;

. a plurality of electric light bulbs mounted on an indicator panel inthe cab of the tractor; and

. an electrical circuit powered by the tractor battery, with one side ofthe battery connected to each of the rotatable shafts and the other sideconnected in parallel through an off and on switch to one side of eachof the light bulbs, the other side of each light bulb which is connectedto one of the contact arms, whereby contact between a contact arm and ashaft pin completes the circuit to light a bulb in the indicator panel.2. A detector system for a seed planting machine as recited in claim 1,wherein the electrically conductive shaft pins and the electricallyconductive contact arms are made of copper.

3. A detector system for a seed planting machine as recited in claim 1,wherein the electrically conductive shaft pins and the electricallyconductive contact arms are made of brass.

4. A detector system for a seed planting machine as recited in claim 1,wherein the flexible insulators connecting each of the plurality ofcontact arms to each of the plurality of cantilever support brackets aremade of fabric reinforced rubber.

1. A detector system for a seed planting machine equipped with a meansfor being operated by a motorized tractor with a battery, a frame, aplurality of rotatable shafts driveably connected at one end by asprocket-shear pin connection to a main drive shaft and connected at theother end to seed planting means; said system comprising: a. a pluralityof electrically conductive shaft pins, one of which is attached to theside of each of the rotatable shafts, makes electrical contact therewithand extends radially outwardly therefrom a distance of one-eighth toone-half inch, and rotates around the axis of the shaft when the shaftis rotated; b. a plurality of cantilever support brackets mounted at oneend to the frame of the planting machine; c. a plurality of electricallyconductive contact arms each of which is supported as a cantilever byattachment at one end to one of the support brackets by a flexibleinsulator, the free end of each contact arm resting in a positionadjacent to and within one-eighth to one-half inch of one of therotatable shafts whereby rotation of the shaft causes intermittentcontact to be made between the shaft pin and the contact arm, theflexible attachment of the contact arm allowing the contact arm to rideup and over the shaft pin to make uniform intermittent contact as theshaft pin rotates about the axis of the rotatable shaft without damageor excessive wear to the shaft pin or contact arm; d. a plurality ofelectric light bulbs mounted on an indicator panel in the cab of thetractor; and e. an electrical circuit powered by the tractor battery,with one side of the battery connected to each of the rotatable shaftsand the other side connected in parallel through an off and on switch toone side of each of the light bulbs, the other side of each light bulbwhich is connected to one of the contact arms, whereby contact between acontact arm and a shaft pin completes the circuit to light a bulb in theindicator panel.
 2. A detector system for a seed planting machine asrecited in claim 1, wherein the electrically conductive shaft pins andthe electrically conductive contact arms are made of copper.
 3. Adetector system for a seed planting machine as recited in claim 1,wherein the electrically conductive shaft pins and the electricallyconductive contact arms are made of brass.
 4. A detector system for aseed planting machine as recited in claim 1, wherein the flexibleinsulators connecting each of the plurality of contact arms to each ofthe plurality of cantilever support brackets are made of fabricreinforced rubber.